Pharmaceutical Name:

Semen Lepiddi seu Descurainiae

Botanical Name:

Lepidium apetalum Willd
Descurainia sophia  (L.) Webb et prantl

Common Name:

Lepidium seed
Descurainia seed

Source of Earliest Record:

Shennong Bencao Jing

Part Used & Method for Pharmaceutical Preparations:

The whole plant is harvested in the period of the Beginning of Summer (seventh solar term) and dried in the sun. Then the seeds are collected.

Properties and Taste:

Bitter, pungent and very cold

Meridians:

Lung and urinary bladder

Functions:

To reduce phlegm in the lungs and soothe asthma
To promote urination and reduce edema

Indications and Combinations:

1.     Retention of phlegm fluid in the lungs manifested as cough with profuse sputum, asthma, fullness and distension in the chest and hypochondriac region, asthma in which patient cannot lie flat and edema of the face.
*Use with Jujube (Dazao) in the formula Tingli Dazao Xiefei Tang.

2.     Edema or dysuria.
*Use with Tetrandra root (Fangji) and Rhubarb (Dahuang) in the formula Ji Jiao Li Huang Wan.

Dosage:

3-10 g